Ravi Coltrane
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Background information
Born August 6, 1965
Origin Long Island, New York, USA
Genres Jazz, post bop
Occupations Saxophonist, composer, bandleader, record producer
Instruments Tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet
Years active 1991–present
Labels Warner Bros., RCA, Sony, Savoy Jazz, Blue Note
Website www.ravicoltrane.com
Ravi Coltrane (b. August 6, 1965 in Long Island, New York) is an American post-bop jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced artists such as pianist Luis Perdomo, guitarist David Gilmore, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi.
Biography
Ravi Coltrane is the son of saxophonist John Coltrane and jazz pianist Alice Coltrane. He is also cousin to experimental music producer Steven Ellison aka Flying Lotus. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, and was named after sitar player Ravi Shankar.
Ravi was two years old in 1967 when his father John Coltrane died. Ravi is a 1983 graduate of El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California.In 1986, he studied music, focusing on the saxophone at the California Institute of the Arts. Ravi has worked extensively with M-Base guru Steve Coleman, a significant influence on Ravi's own musical conception. Coltrane has played with Geri Allen, Kenny Barron, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Stanley Clarke, Branford Marsalis and others.
In 1997, after performing on over thirty recordings as a sideman, Ravi entered the studio to record his first album as leader Moving Pictures, working with drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts, bassist Lonnie Plaxico and pianist Michael Cain. This led to extensive touring with his working featuring Andy Milne on piano, drummer Steve Hass, and bassist Lonnie Plaxico. His second disc, From the Round Box (2000), finds Coltrane in the company of pianist Geri Allen, trumpeter Ralph Alessi, bassist James Genus, and drummer Eric Harland. Followed by Mad 6 (2002) his first release for Sony music, featuring drummer Steve Hass, pianist George Colligan, and bassist James Genus and In Flux (2005) he has been working with bassist Drew Gress, pianist Luis Perdomo, and drummer E.J. Strickland.
In January 2005, Ravi Coltrane performed in India for the first time, as part of a delegation of American jazz musicians sent on a State Department tour to promote HIV/AIDS awareness. Also participating in the tour were vocalist Al Jarreau, guitarist Earl Klugh, and pianist George Duke. Performances included a January 16 concert in Mumbai (Bombay), a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. in Delhi on January 17, and a music festival in Delhi on January 18 organized by violinist L. Subramaniam. Also on January 18, Ravi Coltrane stopped to visit and perform at the Ravi Shankar Centre, where Coltrane met with the man he was named after. Then picking up a clarinet to engage in an unplanned jam session with a pair of shehnai players, Coltrane said, "I'm a little nervous with the master here."
The Coltrane Quartet played at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 2001, the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival in 2004, and the Vienne Jazz Festival in 2005.
In 2008, Ravi became part of The Blue Note 7, a septet formed that year in honor of the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. The group recorded an album in 2008, entitled Mosaic, which was released in 2009 on Blue Note Records/EMI, and toured the United States in promotion of the album from January until April 2009. The group plays the music of Blue Note Records from various artists, with arrangements by members of the band and Renee Rosnes.
Discography
As leader
1998: Moving Pictures (RCA Records)
2000: From the Round Box (RCA Records)
2002: Mad 6 (Sony Music)
2005: In Flux (Savoy Jazz)
2009: Blending Times (Savoy Jazz)
2012: Spirit Fiction (Blue Note)
In group collaboration
1992: Sax Storm (Evidence Music), with Grand Central
1993: The Chase (Evidence Music), with Grand Central
1995: Tenor Enclave: A Tribute to Hank Mobley (Evidence Music), with Grand Central
2008: Seraphic Light (Telarc), with Saxophone Summit
2009: Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note Records (Blue Note Records/EMI), with The Blue Note 7
As sideman
With Elvin Jones
In Europe (Enja, 1991)
Going Home (Enja, 1992)
With David Murray
1992: MX (Red Baron)
With Ryan Kisor
1992: Minor Mutiny (Sony Music)
With Wallace Roney
1993: Munchin' (Muse Records)
1994: Misterios (Warner Bros. Records)
1999: No Job Too Big Or Small (Savoy Jazz)
With Steve Coleman
1994: Steve Coleman & Metrics, A tale of 3 cities, the EP (BMG)
1995: Steve Coleman And Five Elements, Def Trance Beat (Modalities Of Rhythm) (BMG)
1996: Steve Coleman & The Mystic Rhythm Society, The Sign And The Seal (BMG)
1998: Steve Coleman And Five Elements, Genesis & the opening of the way (BMG)
1999: Steve Coleman And Five Elements, The Sonic Language Of Myth (RCA Records))
2004: Steve Coleman And Five Elements, Lucidarium (Label Bleu)
With Art Davis
1996: A Time Remembered (Jazz Planet)
With Billy Childs
1996: The Child Within (Shanachie Records)
With Bheki Mseleku
1996: Beauty of the Sunrise (Polygram))
With Yosuke Yamashita
1996: Canvas in Vigor (Universal Records)
1997: Wind of the Age (Verve Records)
With Gerry Gibbs
1996: The Thrasher (Warner Bros. Records)
With Cindy Blackman
1998: In The Now (HighNote Records)
With David Gilmore
2001: Ritualism (The Orchard)
With Andrei Kondakov
2002: Kind Of Optimistic (Boheme Music)
With Jeff "Tain" Watts
2002: Bar Talk (Columbia Records)
With Scott Coley
2002: Initial Wisdom (Palmetto)
With Alice Coltrane
2004: Translinear Light (Verve Records)
With Luis Perdomo
2005: Focus Point (RKM Music)
With Flying Lotus
2010: Cosmogramma (Warp Records)
Compilations
2003: Bird Up — The Charlie Parker Remix Project (Savoy Jazz)
2005: Impulsive! Revolutionary Jazz Reworked (Verve Records)
With Bob Thiele Collective
Lion Hearted (1993)